At Pacific National, our employees know the value of rolling up their sleeves and digging in to help take care of the environment of the communities we operate in.
Recently, we partnered with Landcare giving our employees the opportunity to volunteer at the Indigigrow nursery at La Perouse, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. First nations owned and operated, Indigigrow is a social enterprise from First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation. It sustains people, land and culture through the propagation of native plants, including bush foods and the critically endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub.
Despite the chilly conditions, more than a dozen of our employees from our North Sydney head office got their hands dirty by pitching in. Following a quick briefing, they were divided into two teams and got to work. The task, transferring kangaroo grass seedlings into larger pots. The seedlings are among six thousand currently being nurtured by nursery workers, and will eventually form part of an indigenous art project. By the end of the day, between 800 and 900 seedlings had been transferred through their efforts.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to visit Indigigrow nursery. I enjoyed learning from the team about their cultural program to regenerate traditional plants, in particular, the “bush lolly”. It was a relaxing day away from the screen connecting with co-workers. I took home a cinnamon myrtle and have my eye on a few other beautiful plants that I’ll return for,” says Genevieve Nix Head of HSE
Together with Landcare, our efforts are helping improve biodiversity, support the sharing of important knowledge, and create stronger communities.
“With the impact of a changing climate and natural disasters like drought, bushfires and flood, Landcare has never been more important. Landcare Australia’s Corporate Environmental Volunteering (CEV) program not only provides the opportunity to build teams and increase staff engagement within the workplace, it also leaves corporate teams with a better understanding of biodiversity, the environment in their local area, and how their activities at home and work can impact both positively and negatively. By helping to propagate, raise seedlings and conduct other nursery work at IndigiGrow Nursery, Pacific National played a part in restoring natural ecosystems while also engaging with and learning from the local Indigenous employees of IndigiGrow”, says a Landcare spokesperson.
